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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22920952">a multitude of tales</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/highfaenyx/pseuds/dancingwiththewind'>dancingwiththewind (highfaenyx)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Multi, Star Wars pals go to see TRoS, background gingerose, background stormpilot, but it turned quite serious, this is started as a crack</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 05:53:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,635</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22920952</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/highfaenyx/pseuds/dancingwiththewind</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When they leave the theatre, they are all livid. <br/>Or: Rey, Ben, Rose, Finn and Poe go to see The Rise of Skywalker.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a multitude of tales</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When they leave the theatre, they are all <em>livid</em>.</p>
<p>Rey sees Ben clutching his fingers in a fist, and, normally, she would reach and soothe the anger in the lines of his face so he wouldn’t go and do something stupid and reckless. He is much better now, truly; his anger issues, rooted deeply in his self-despise, are almost gone, she tells him, every day, <em>you are beautiful, in and out, Ben Solo, and don’t ever dare to think otherwise</em>. It is sort of a habit for Rey, the one she takes a quiet joy in, <em>she is not alone, there is someone just like me.</em></p>
<p>This time, though, she is so angry herself that she is not sure who will end up doing something stupid first - her or Ben. The anger between them flares in their bond. Her grip on his bicep is somewhat excessive, but he allows it without a blink.</p>
<p>“<em>Rey Palpatine,” </em>she hisses through her teeth, and Ben shoots a glance at her from under his lashes, and covers her hand with his - perhaps, also stronger than usual, maybe, almost too much. Rey welcomes the pressure, though. Anything to alleviate the anger boiling in her blood.</p>
<p>Next to them, Finn seems to be trying to get Rose to put her wrench down and back into her pocket, and simultaneously drag Poe back from the limbo he’s seemingly fallen into.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They don’t say a word as they parade towards the closest coffee shop, and drop on the coach. More accurately - Poe, Rose and Finn drop on the couch, shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee; Ben drapes over an armchair, and Rey - Rey drops on Ben’s lap, because while they may not be the couple most fond of PDA, but extreme times call for extreme measures, and right now Rey’s extreme measure is to drown herself in Ben. His arm snaking around her waist doesn’t seem to mind.</p>
<p>Everyone is silent; Rey feels the tension vibrating around the table, ready to combust.</p>
<p>Poe and Finn are sulking. Rose is squeezed between them, her arms folded on her chest; all three of them glaring into the void.</p>
<p>The void (situated somewhere around the edge of a coffee table) is on fire.</p>
<p>A waitress appears to take their order, and meets five pairs of decidedly deadly looking eyes. She squeaks, and disappears faster than light speed. The silence lingers; Rey tries to compose herself, and offers, voice draped with pretence positivity, “The music was great, right?”</p>
<p>Ben’s eye muscle twitches. The temperature in the room rises noticeably.</p>
<p>Rey gulps. Rose explodes.</p>
<p>“Idiots, which part of the <em>don’t fight what you hate </em>they didn’t understand - ”</p>
<p>Poe and Finn follow suit.</p>
<p>“I am <em>so dumb</em>, good gods - “</p>
<p>“That wasn’t how we got to Exegol - “</p>
<p>“I led the stormtroopers rebellion, do they have any idea - “</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ben doesn’t say a word. Rey sighs. Later, then.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rose, Finn and Poe all get unholy, incomprehensibly drunk. Rey would gladly join them, but… certain <em>conditions </em>do not let her, so she keeps sipping a lemonade, and Ben is not the one to drink, anyway. <em>Brings up dark corners of my mind, </em>he says, and Rey lays her head on his shoulder and muffles his hair - because she <em>knows</em>, and she will do everything in help him keep his darkness at bay.</p>
<p>She knows he will do the same for her in an instant.</p>
<p>“At least it’s good that Hux didn’t go,” Ben says.</p>
<p>Rey sighs. “Oh yes. We would end up with a case of hysteria, and we already have enough drama queens in the group,” she spares a glance to Poe. He is sitting on a sidewalk, clutching a bottle of wine in his hands, and looks like he is about to start to cry. Finn, who is standing by him, looks like he will have a panic attack the moment his boyfriend sheds a tear.</p>
<p>Angry, but perfectly sane just before this instant, Rose starts laughing hysterically, and Rey and Ben exchange a glance. “Do you think she is covering for herself <em>and </em>her boyfriend?” Ben asks.</p>
<p>Rey looks around. “Ben. This is a mess. Why did we have to be the sober ones here?”</p>
<p>“You know why,” he says, and puts a hand on the small of her back, and Rey revels in the warmness he brings.</p>
<p>“But you’re right. That’s it. I am calling Armitage to pick them up,” Ben pulls his comm out of his pocket.</p>
<p>Rey giggles. “Hugs will freak out.”</p>
<p>“Nah. I think his ginger ass can handle this drama.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Back on Ahch-To, Rey watches her husband reach into the chest and fetch his lightsaber.</p>
<p>“Just a moment, sweetheart,” he mutters under his breath, more for himself than for her. “I’ll be back in just a moment,” and marches outside.</p>
<p>Ben explodes.</p>
<p>Rey hears the familiar buzz of lightsaber and the sound of electric panels coming apart, and grins wickedly as satisfaction streams down the bond. After a moment of quick thinking, she grabs her own saber to join him.</p>
<p>They spar for some time, and that is a familiar dance of swords and stances. They fall into it easily, and the Force hums in the air around them, and Rey’s very soul sings to this rhyme of life and death, love and hope, passion and tranquility.</p>
<p>She still cannot believe she deserves - <em>this. </em>She probably never will.</p>
<p>Ben catches her wrist in the last of her lazy strokes, and pulls her next to him.</p>
<p>“Are you angry still, Rey?” He asks her, and she takes a moment, because he must <em>know </em>that she is, just a bit, but also - not really, more just… aha. So this is what he is <em>really</em> asking.</p>
<p>Count it on her husband (and soulmate) to see right through not only her empty smiles, but anger, too.</p>
<p>“I guess I am not angry, just… sad?” She sighs, burrowing herself further in him, closer, skin to skin, so that all barriers between them would fall, and they would become one in body, heart and soul, because the truth is - while Rey is angry beyond any measure at the way her story was twisted and mistold, she is also very, very scared. The Rey from the screen was… empty. Lonely. Left alone. Hopeless. Everything that Rey Solo dreaded to become, feared to be - back when she was no Jedi but a scavenger of Jakku, and heavy thoughts brought on by cold desert nights would keep her from sleep. That was the reason she walked on the edge of almost choosing the darkness instead of the light; and the reason Ben did.</p>
<p>He knew, always; this time, too, and he kisses her, tenderly, and brushes the tears off her cheek.</p>
<p>“I am here,” he whispers. “I am here, Rey, I am alive, and I will never leave you alone. Whatever will come.”</p>
<p>She loves him so much that sometimes thinks her heart will burst out of her chest, and fill the whole universe with the hope and compassion that they cradle in their bond, and intensity, and even anger - all light and darkness she and Ben carry. Perhaps, one day it will.</p>
<p>So a mere thought of a possibility of her reaching down the bond and finding nothing - a gaping hole in the void, an open, aching wound that has nothing to do with the flesh - leaves her with a hollow chest and a lump in her throat. The phantom pain of a thought is unbearable, incomprehensible, cruel, and Rey cannot breathe -</p>
<p>“Hey,” he says. “Look at me, Rey, please.” She opens her eyes, and Ben is cradling her face in his large hands. “I am here,” and though he repeats himself, Rey will never have enough of him saying these words, of feeling his hands and his body on hers.</p>
<p>“And even if I were not, if that Rey is anything like the amazing, strong woman I know - she would find a way to bring me back.”</p>
<p>“And we - we will tell our story, live our story the best way we can.”</p>
<p>“Luke was a story, too. A legend,” she says, a bitter edge to her voice.</p>
<p>He smiles. “That is a fate of all heroes. Ours, too.”</p>
<p>“And Luke - he was never just a hero. He was a brother, an uncle, a mentor, a disciple.”</p>
<p>Rey smiles. “A failure.”</p>
<p>Ben grins, too. “A failure,” he admits.</p>
<p>She sees many in Ben’s lines: his grandfather’s curls, Padme’s cheekbones. Leia’s eyes. Han’s smile. But as they grow older, she realises - Luke Skywalker is the one she sees more often than not, reckless edges of a smile and sparkles in the deep of brown (not blue) eyes.</p>
<p>“He is more than just one story, Rey. We all are.”</p>
<p>“But what if - what if there is only one left, only one told?” <em>What if they tell that I am a Palpatine, and you are a villain, and our bond was nothing more than a gust in the wind</em>, she wants to ask, but the wound is too fresh, words too harsh, and Ben knows, anyway.</p>
<p>“We will tell more. We will create more, we will fill this universe with them until they will not be able to tell what is true and what is not, until they tell legends about legends about who we are and where we come from.”</p>
<p>His voice is steady, his arms strong, and Rey is soothed by a familiar comfort of his darkness.</p>
<p>“I think,” her voice is weaker than she thought, but she looks at her soulmate and strengthens her hold around him, and feels their - whatever it is that is <em>theirs </em>- bloom in the bond between them, in the Force itself, running through all time and space at once. “I want that.”</p>
<p>“Let’s create a multitude of tales.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This all started as a one-shot crack fic, but somehow Rey and Ben wanted to talk about serious things along the way, so I just let them do as they pleased. <br/>Hope you enjoy this, and kudos and comments are always welcome! :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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